Brooklyn, NY, May 3— Flatbush Avenue turned red once again as over 200 members and friends of the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) marched to celebrate May Day, waving bold crimson flags in solidarity with workers around the world and fully in sync with this year’s theme: “Raise the Red Flag Against Fascism! Fight for communism!” In what has become our Brooklyn May Day tradition, our march was headed up by a banner-decorated truck with a sound system that blasted backup music for our militant and celebratory chants. Workers in the neighborhood danced along to the beats, chimed in with chants, opened their windows to express support, and in some cases, joined our march. Many marchers sported floppy red hats and red umbrellas to go along with the theme.
March for communism!
Prior to kicking off our march, our day’s emcees read out international greetings from Haiti, South Asia, East Africa, and the United Kingdom. Three young comrades, one who joined PLP around a year ago, collectively gave the main speech (printed on page 7 & 8). It validated workers’ fears in this time of growing fascism while also sharing highlights of worker and communist fight back in the last year and inspiring revolutionary optimism in the fight for communism. While marching, we distributed 2,400 copies of CHALLENGE and 125 flier invites to an upcoming “Meet PLP” event. We closed out the event with a singing of the Internationale and lunch distribution, sharing with workers who were in the park. Many stuck around to socialize and hear what friends and comrades had to say about our energetic day.
Post May Day reflections
On a bus ride that some marchers took back uptown, participants had a chance to share what they thought of our May Day. Some commented on how energized the neighborhood was about our march. Another person shared how few groups are as multiracial as our march was. For many on the bus, it was their first May Day! One comrade shared that it was his 39th May Day. A comrade invited the riders to join PLP and commit their lives to fighting for a better world for the international working class.
As fascism continues to develop and intensify, and as the drums of world war beat faster every day, many workers are scared. We must fight this fear and the cynicism and individualism that the ruling class hopes we will hold onto. Only through fighting for communism can we end the nightmare of this murderous profit system known as capitalism. Our May Day march was just a beacon of light in a dark night. Dark night shall have its end! Join us!
